Rafael Nadal swipes away Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-final clash – Qatar Open 2011
World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, faced no serious challenge in disposing off the 35th ranked Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, in the quarter-final of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open on Thursday. The top seed Spaniard wrapped
up victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to book a spot in the semi-finals of the season-opening ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 tournament in Doha, Qatar.
The seventh seed Youzhny hung in the contest for one hour and forty nine minutes before bowing out to the fury of the former world number one. The 25-year-old Spaniard registered his third victory of the 2012 ATP season and the
ninth one against Youzhny in the singles encounters to carry on his voyage to his 47th championship title.
It was an all-Spanish show, with Nadal dominating throughout of the contest to drive the Russian out of the competition with ease. He made his 66 per cent precise serve as his primary weapon of destruction and reeled off 33 out
of 44 first serve points in the match en route to victory. The top seed Spaniard was mighty pleased with his performance and believed he is finally getting back his vintage class, hoping to reclaim the world number one spot in the current ATP season.
“I think I played my best match here today," declared Nadal. "For a lot of moments during the match, I played at a very, very high level, moving very well, going inside the court. I had control of the point most of the time against
a player that I normally [am not able to dictate], because his level has always put me in trouble in the past.”
Nadal’s belligerent game play included frequent forays to the net, converting a number of juicy half volleys into cross-court winners on regular occasions. He converted half of his six break points to dump Youzhny, who registered
merely one serve break in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side in the end.
Nadal will take on the world number 16, Gael Monfils of France in the semi-finals to battle for a place in the final of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open on Friday. The fourth seeded French registered a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3, victory
over the fifth seed Serbian, Viktor Troicki, in the quarter-final round of the tournament on Thursday. It will be the 10th meeting between Nadal and Monfils, with the Spaniard leading 8-1 over the crafty Frenchman, which includes a five-match winning
streak over him.
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